As you may have noticed there’s not been much in the way of backpacking of late. Typically, I’ve been away for the last few weeks of sunshine, but was determined to get out this weekend before the weather turned nasty.
I headed to the village of Abergwyngregyn on Saturday afternoon to start a loop of the National Trust land there, however it quickly became apparent that the high winds forecast for the next day were already beginning to make their presence felt and the stronger gusts were making the peaks a little tricky.
Due to my late departure, the strengthening winds, and the poor forecast for Sunday, I decided to to turn around and my way back once I’d reached the summit of Drum; the original plan had been to camp at Carnedd Llewelyn, but I didn’t want to risk getting stuck in high winds. I made my way back and found a decent pitch for the night just below Foel Ganol, out of the worst of the wind. With tent pitched just before dark, it was on with the stove for a hot chocolate before bed. As I watched lights begin to appear around Bangor I could feel the wind start to pick up and it looked like I was going to be in for a blustery night.
It’s been a while since I last slept in the Superlite Voyager and I’d forgotten how noisy the Silnylon flysheet is, even in light winds. By 1am gusts of up to 40mph were hitting the tent. I was woken at 4am with the tent pressed flat against my face, despite it being pitched tail into the wind. I stuck my ADC Wind out the door to find a reading of 50-60mph gusts. I hopped out and checked the pegs and guys and headed back to the warmth of the sleeping bag. I stuck some earplugs in and tried to get back to sleep.
I was snug as a bug in my sleeping bag, despite the wind. The PHD Minim Ultra is everything I hoped it would be. Its hardly noticeable when packed in its stuff sack and I could really feel the weight difference in my pack during the day, not to mention the increase in space (which I managed to avoid filling with other unnecessary stuff). It lofted very quickly after being unpacked, and the lack of zip turned out to be a non-issue.The temperature fell steadily through the night, from 15°C at 11pm to 11°C at 4am (temps from ADC Wind), but I was comfortable in the Ultra wearing just my base layer. When I was woken at 4, I did feel that my hip was a bit cold (I’d been laying on my side), but this clearly hadn’t been bad enough to wake me up during the night.
I finally gave up trying to sleep at 5am. I made a hot chocolate and some breakfast, packed up, and fought my way off the hill. The wind was really strong by this point. I had planned to take some photos of the camp for this post, but the lack of sleep had driven it from my mind, and I had quite a job just keeping upright in the stronger gusts. I got back to the car by 8am and headed home. It was a shame as the sun was shining, but I’m glad I decided to turn back, rather than get stuck on the hill in those winds. Here’s to next time!